


New School, New Friends, and New Love?

by Ambenya



Category: Final Fantasy XIII Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 11:37:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20527403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ambenya/pseuds/Ambenya
Summary: Originally posted on fanfiction.net. AU: Hope is a freshman at his new school. He has been put in all the accelerated classes but doesn't expect to make any friends. After bumping into a girl with rose-colored hair he becomes interested in her. How will his high school life go? Will he be able to make friends or maybe more?





	1. First Day of High School

**Author's Note:**

> My first Final Fantasy XIII fanfic that I originally wrote in 2014. The setting is pretty much a mix of the Japanese and American school systems.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or any of the characters.

Hope didn't want to go to school. He was never popular and was always considered a nerd or geek.

This year was his first year and day of high school and not only was he new to the school but he was put in all the accelerated classes. This would obviously mark him as a nerd and send any potential friends with his classmates away. It happened every time since he got into school just because he was too smart compared to the rest.

“Hope! Sweetie, get up or you will be late for your first day of high school! If you don't get up I will come up there and pull you out of bed myself!” His mom, Nora yelled from the bottom of the stairs at her son.

The kid got out of bed knowing his mom would full well march into his room and drag his butt out of bed.

This is the life of Hope Estheim. At fourteen and put at the top of his class he was considered a child prodigy from a young age and was given the option to skip grades countless times but every time he was offered it he would reject it stating that he just wanted a normal life. So here he was today getting ready for his first year of high school. He wore his new school uniform and got everything ready before heading down for breakfast. Not caring if his hair was a mess.

“So it seems you did decide to get up today. Sorry, Dad had to leave early for work today but he wishes you the best on your first day.” His mom said with an apologetic look on her face.

“It's fine. It's not a big deal just another day and another year.” Hope said sitting said with a shrug not trying to let his father not bother him.

“Hope... This is a big day it's the first day of your high school life. You really should be more excited about it. Now hurry up and eat breakfast, I already packed your lunch.” His mom smiled handing him his lunch leaving the subject alone for now.

He quickly finished his food and picked up his lunch before heading to the door. “Thanks, Mom! I love you!” Hope said with a sweet smile on his face before leaving.

'_I wish I could have a good first day but with the way I am I doubt that would ever happen._' Hope thought to himself as he walked to his new school Eden High Academy.

With his head down he didn't see the person in front of him and bumped into them falling. “Hey, kid watch where you are going it's not safe when you don't pay attention to where you are walking.” A strict feminine voice said.

Hope quickly looked up at the girl he ran into. She had rose-color hair and sharp blue eyes that stared at him. She seemed tall at least taller than him. Her hair fell in curls over her left shoulder and her skin was pale but not sickly pale. He couldn't help but think she looked beautiful and almost angel.

“Hey, are you going to get up or just sit on the ground all day? You wouldn't want to start your first day of school late.” The girl spoke again giving the boy a stern look. That's when he realized he had arrived at school and that this girl was wearing the girl uniform for the school.

“Oh right... Sorry for running into you like that...” Hope apologized with a bow before smiling softly.

“It's fine just make sure you notice what is going on around you.” She said before turning around going over to a group of people.

One of the guys was huge with light blonde hair who seemed to be laughing loudly at something that a girl who looked like the girl that he just ran into but with her hair tied in a side ponytail hanging over her left shoulder and was shorter. Hope couldn't help but think they looked like sisters.  
  
Another girl this time with red hair in curled pigtails and green eyes seemed to be giggling at what the pink-haired girl just said. The next person he noticed was a girl telling the big guy to shut up. This girl had bronze skin was the taller of the girls standing together. Her hair was dark brown and wavy.

A small boy with blonde hair just laughed at the woman who was complaining about the first guy being loud. Another guy who had blue hair just flipped it and looked at his friends who were starting to laugh more at the dark hair woman complaint. Another big guy this time with dark skin and hair that looks like flames just ignored everyone. The last person in the group that the pink-haired girl walked into had short black hair and was just telling everyone they were stupid for laughing while laughing herself.

'_Those must be her friends... They all seem to get along well._' He thought to himself as the woman he ran into reached up and smacked the loud guy upside the head.

“I hope I can make some friends.” The boy said with a sigh before walking into the building.

The first place he had to go to was his homeroom 1-A. His homeroom teacher was a man named Mr. Katzroy, who had an afro that made the guy seem taller than he probably was. After doing introductions they all headed down to the auditorium for an assembly.

After a greeting from the staff, student council president, and the school chairman a man named Dysley, the club president got to speak a little about their clubs.

For the most part, Hope zoned out on what was being said. He knew he had to pick a club to join but he didn't care for clubs. He just wanted to get through high school and get through life. Hope was suddenly drawn out of his thoughts when a new voice came out of the speakers.

“Good morning, everyone. If you do not know who I am, my name is Claire Farron but I insist that all of you call me Lightning. If you do not then I will deal with you personally. I am the President of the Disciplinary Committee. I abide by the rules and so should the rest of you. I don't care what your excuse is you follow the rules. If you want to join the committee do not think it will all be fun and games because I assure you it is not. I will not try to convince you to join as it is your own choice but you still need to follow the rules and those rules do include join a club of some sort.” The girl Hope met earlier said in an authoritative voice that resounded in the auditorium.

“The Disciplinary Committee?” Hope mumble to himself thinking about it. He didn't know why but part of him wanted to join just to get closer to this woman named 'Lightning'.

After everyone was leaving they began talking about what club they wanted to join while he knew exactly what he wanted to join.

After school, he went to his teacher to ask where the Disciplinary Committee's club room was. “You want to know about the Disciplinary Committee? Well, I'll be... I guess that little miss's speech did influence someone to join...” Sazh said chuckling to himself about it all before getting up.

“Okay, I'll show you but trust me this will not be a walk in the park. Trust me I'm the adviser for the club.” Sazh said surprising the student a little who was following him.

“Thank you Katzroy-sensei! I appreciate your help.” Hope responded with a sincere smile on his face.

“Boy, you are too polite. Please call me Sazh everyone else does.” Sazh said with a grin to the kid before stopping at a door.

“Ah, okay Sazh-sensei!” Hope's smile brightened a little bit as he stopped as well.

“Well, here we are!” Sazh said opening the door only to hear to people arguing.

“Sis, let me ask you this. How the hell do you expect people to join after your speech up there?” The big guy Hope saw earlier complained to the pink-haired girl.

“First of all do not call me Sis, I am not your sister, Snow. Second I expect them to join of their own free will. What is the point of trying to convince them?” The woman that Hope now knew as Lightning responded with annoyance.

“You might be my sister one day. Any way you try to convince them to join and then they join of their own free will.” Snow said with a sigh thinking about everything.

“You didn't join of your own will. If I remember correctly Serah is the one who made you join.” Lightning said destroying Snow's defense.

Sazh decided to speak up before Snow dug himself into a bigger hole. “Hey, you two, I hope you guys are still looking for new members. We got one wanting to join right here!” Sazh than moved over for them to see Hope.

“Hello, my name is Hope Estheim and I was wondering if I could join,” Hope said with a small smile trying not to blush at the thought that Lightning looked prettier up close.

The two people stared at Hope before finally agreeing to let Hope join. “Welcome to the club, Hope! I'm Snow Villiers and over here is my sis, Lightning!” Snow said motioning to the rose-colored hair.

“He's not my brother. He's just dating my sister. Anyway, it's nice to meet you.” Lightning said with a nod to the boy who just grinned.

'_Maybe high school won't be so bad..._' Hope thought to himself.


	2. A Fun Lunch!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or any of the characters.

Hope was sitting alone in the cafeteria eating his lunch. Just like he predicted Hope still hasn't made any friends since his first day of school. No one wanted to be his friend since they figured he would make them seem dumb. Even as a member of the Disciplinary Committee he didn't talk to any of them outside the meetings.

'_At least I can see Lightning up close as a member._' Hope thought to himself as he ate his food looking at Lightning's group of friends or more like her sister's group of friends.

The school had somewhat of a hierarchy like any other school out there. There were the popular kids, the geeky kids, the bad kids, and the rejects.

Lightning's group was weird though some of them were popular some were rejects. The popular ones were Serah, Snow, Gadot, Lebreau, and Yuj. While the rejects were Lightning, Vanille, Fang, and Maqui. According to what Hope heard Vanille use to be popular too but something happened.

Hope was about to take another bite of food when he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned to see the girl Hope now recognized as Vanille.

“Hey, what are you doing all alone?” Vanille asked in a friendly voice.

Before Hope could say anything he was being dragged up by the arm by the girl. “Come on! You can come and join us for lunch!” The hyper girl said as she let Hope get his food before dragging him over to the group of friends.

“Hey welcome to the club kid! Glad you could join us today!” Snow said with a grin.

“Thank you, Snow. Sorry to bother you guys.” Hope said respectfully as he sat down.

“You're not a bother at all, Hope.” Snow responded smiling proudly.

“Let's introduce you to everyone,” Vanille said as she motioned to Serah.

“Hello, I'm Serah. I'm Lightning's sister and Snow's girlfriend. My best friend is Vanille. It's very nice to meet you.” Serah said with a very sweet smile to the young boy.

“I'm Maqui. I hope we can get along well.” A blonde guy who looked around the same age as Hope.

“The name's Yuj and might I say you are looking pretty stylin' today,” Yuj said with a laugh at the kid who laughed as well.

“Hey, I'm Gadot and Snow is like a brother to me even if he's an idiot.” The guy with hair like fire said with a chuckle.

“I'm Lebreau. Please excuse these idiots. It's really good to finally meet you after hearing Snow talk about you.” A black-haired girl said with a smirk.

“How are you doing, kid? I'm Fang and just so you know you better not be thinking of stealing my girl, Vanille. 'Kay kid?” Fang said with a smirk on her face not really threatening the boy.

“I promise not to steal Vanille from you. Anyway, thanks for letting me sit here today.” Hope responded with a kind smile.

“You can sit here with us from now on!” Snow grinned widely at the freshman.

Hope looked at everyone surprised and thought about thanking them when suddenly he remembered Lightning. “Are you sure? Lightning might not want me to sit here...”

Serah looked at the poor boy with an assuring smile. “Don't worry about Claire, she won't mind if you sit here. Right, Claire?” She asked surprising the boy who turned to quickly look at the older girl.

“Serah, I told you to never call me Claire again. It's not my name anymore. Anyway, I don't care what you do kid or where you sit kid.” Lightning said as she sat down in her seat which was across from Serah and just so happened to be next to Hope.

“Oh okay then...” Hope responded sitting back in his seat with his cheeks turning a little pink.

After a little awkward silence Snow decided to speak up after Serah elbowed and motioned for him to say something. “Soooo, Hope, I heard you were put in all the advanced classes.”

“Uh... Yeah, I've been given the choice on whether to skip grades or not. I chose not to since I just want to live a normal school life.” Hope responded sheepishly to the older group.

Everyone seemed interested in what he claimed even Lightning's ears perked up at this which only Serah and Fang noticed.

“Wait so if you had chosen to skip grades, what grade would you be in exactly?” Yuj asked as he tilted his head to the side.

“Well the max they said I could skip would put me in 12th grade this year so...” The silver-haired boy said with a blush looking down as he scratched the back of his head.

Everyone looked at him wide-eyed for a second before reacting. “EHHHH?!” Everyone but Lightning said collectively however Lightning looked at him amused.

“Wait, you're that smart? Man, maybe I should go to you for help with my homework.” Snow laughed out at the younger boy.

“Even if someone as smart as him helped you, chances are you would still be too dumb to get the right answer,” Fang said with a smirk to the big blond guy.

“I want to see you answer one of the questions on the 12th-grade homework just to see you do this,” Vanille said with a smile to the boy.

“Uh sure... If someone can write down a problem from the homework on a spare sheet of paper I wouldn't mind doing it.” Hope responded as he looked around the table.

Before anyone else did anything Lightning pushed a piece of paper toward him. “That was the hardest question on the math homework from last night.” She said looking at the younger Disciplinary Committee member who looked at her surprised.

“Okay then...” Hope said as he took the paper and got a pencil and began solving the problem.

After 30 seconds he was done with the problem. “Here you go all done!” Hope said with a huge smile handing the paperback.

Lightning looked the problem over and checked it to make sure it was correct. “Nice, kid. You managed to get the answer correct in under a minute.” The rose-haired woman responded with a slightly surprised look.

Serah leaned over to look at the question which was answered. “Wasn't that the same question you were stuck on last night, sis?” She asked noticing the question seemed familiar.

Before Lightning could say anything in response the bell had rung to signify that lunch was over and they all had to go back to class.

As Hope gathered his stuff and began heading out the door with his new friends he heard the cool and icy voice of Lightning. “Hope, don't forget that tomorrow you are to get here early to take the morning watch.” The seventeen-year-old said to the fourteen-year-old.

“Okay, I'll be here as soon as I can,” Hope said with a bright smile on his face.

As they all were walking off no one but Serah notices the soft smile on the older Farron's face.

'_Looks like sis is interested in that Hope guy... I guess I'll just ask her later tonight_' Serah thought to herself before going to her class with Vanille.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful for everyone. Hope seemed to be welcomed into the mixture group of friends who didn't seem to take his intelligence as a threat and were wanting him to teach them. Well... mainly Snow.

“I'm back!” Hope called into the house loudly with a huge grin on his face.

“Oh welcome home sweetie! My, you seem to be in a good mood today.” Nora responded as she looked out from in the kitchen.

“Well, I might have made a few new friends today...” The fourteen-year-old said sheepishly as he took off his shoes.

“Really! That's a great sweetie. So what are they like?” Nora asked as she went back into the kitchen with Hope coming in to sit at the table.

Hope told his mom all that happened to him today at lunch and everything. He explained each personality of the people he sat with that day.

“So sis, Hope seems nice...” Serah said trying to somehow get her older sister to talk to her about the new kid that joined their group.

“Yeah, I guess he is. Better than your oaf of a boyfriend is...” Lightning said as she sat at their kitchen table doing homework while Serah cooked dinner.

“Sis, I'm sure if you give Snow a chance it would be fine. I mean I had him join the Disciplinary Committee so you two could get along.” Serah said with a sigh continuing on dinner.

“And I keep telling you I will never get along with him. When will you learn this, Serah?” Lightning asked focused on her homework.

Serah just sighed at her stubborn older sister. '_She'll come around eventually. I'm sure of it._' Serah thought to herself.

Lightning felt proud that she managed to distract her sister from asking her about the new kid that Lightning was interested in. '_I'll deal with her lecturing about that another day... I'm curious to see how morning watch for him is going to go though..._'


	3. Morning Watch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or any of the characters.

It was a beautiful day and also Hope's first day on the morning watch. He got up early in the morning. It was so early he was up at the same time as his father.

“Hey son, you're up early this morning.” His father, Bartholomew, said with a slight note of surprise in his voice.

“Yeah, I have morning watch as a member of the Disciplinary Committee,” Hope responded as he sat down for breakfast.

“Disciplinary Committee?” Bartholomew questioned slightly before Nora walked in from the kitchen.

“Good morning, Hope. Sorry, Bartholomew, I forgot to mention that Hope decided to join the Disciplinary Committee and has made a lot of new friends.” Nora said with a smile to the two men sitting at the table as she walked back to finish making breakfast and lunches for the two guys.

“Well, it's good that you are getting along with people there,” Bartholomew said as he took a drink of coffee.

“Yeah sure...” Hope said with indifference to his father as he looked at the clock to check the time. He had about a half-hour before having to leave.

The two guys sat in silence for a few minutes before Nora appeared again with breakfast. Hope was thankful that he didn't have to sit in awkward silence with his dad any longer than necessary.

“Thanks, Mom,” Hope said with a smile before he began eating.

“So, Hope, I was thinking that you could bring your friends over for dinner this Saturday. I would like to meet them all.” Nora said as she gave Bartholomew his breakfast and began eating her own.

“I'll ask them but I don't know if they can make it. Well, I'm done, I better get going. Love you both!” The silver-haired boy said as he got up and grabbed his lunch before heading out the door.

Hope wanted to leave as soon as possible, partially because he wanted to get to school as soon as possible and partially because he didn't want to spend any time sitting with his parents in awkward silence.

Hope had a good relationship with his mom but he and his father were very distant. '_It's because he's always working that he never spends time with us. He doesn't even try to get to know me now! I doubt he even cares..._' Hope thought to himself sighing sadly a little.

When the 14-year-old made it to the school he hurried up and put all his stuff away in the classroom. The following thing he did was go to the club room to see if someone was there to give him instructions about what he had to do for the morning watch.

Hope opened the door slowly just in case someone was in the room and didn't want to be messed with. “Um... good morning?” Hope said once the door opened fully to revel Lightning sitting at the table focused on what looked like paperwork.

“Good morning, Hope. You're just on time the other students should all be arriving soon. So, why don't I go over what you are going to do today?” The rose-haired girl said with less authority in her voice today than in the past weeks as she looked up at the boy.

“Sure, I was kinda hoping someone would be here to explain everything.” Hope laughed a little when he said that.

“Well, lucky for you Serah and I always come here early. Mostly because she is a member of the student council.” Lightning responded in a teasing tone and a slight smirk.

When Hope saw Lightning's look after she made that statement he couldn't help but blush. '_She looks kinda cute like that... Wait! This is Lightning you are thinking about Hope. She would beat you if she knew you thought that._'

Hope shook his previous thought out of his head before sitting down at the table with Lightning. “Anyway, so what exactly am I doing?” Hope asked his cheeks still a little pink from his previous thoughts.

“Well Hope, what you are going to do is very simple. You will take the name of anyone disobeying the rules. It can be because they are bullying someone or because they are disobeying the dress-code. If you write them up you have to give me the reason they are written up. All the names and reasons will be written down on this piece of paper.” Lightning said as she slid a paper on a clipboard over to Hope who just took it with a nod.

“Do you understand what you have to do? If you do you can just give me the report during lunch but the sooner the better.” The rose-haired girl asked with a serious look on her face.

“Yes! I will try my best. I guess I should go get started then.” The green-eyed boy said before getting up and heading outside to do his job.

* * *

Hope stood outside the school watching as students entered the gates. He wrote down a few names and talked to the people who he wrote down and told them what they did wrong.

So far it was as kids who disobeyed the dress-code which didn't bother Hope much. Everything seemed to be going fine until he turned around and bumped into a big guy with black hair and green eyes. He looked to be in Snow and Lightning's grade which was 12th grade.

“Hey, brat! Watch what you are doing!” The guy yelled to Hope who got up from the ground.

“You should apologize to the boss!” A slightly smaller guy with short red hair and bright yellow eyes. He was probably an 11th grader.

Hope didn't say anything as he looked at the two guys who were yelling at him as he noticed a look of recognition cross the third guy's face.

“Hey! You're that first-year brat who is in advanced classes and a part of the Disciplinary Committee right?” The third guy with blond hair and purple eyes. He also had black-rimmed glasses and looked like he was an 11th grader as well.

“Oh? So you're Lightning's new lackey? Now that I think about it you were sitting with her at lunch yesterday. I bet you follow her around like a lost puppy.” The leader laughed out with a smirk.

Hope just stood there saying nothing to the three guys. He was used to this kind of treatment since he had been bullied at his last school.

“You know she's such a bitch. I bet she thinks you're just a burden. Why don't I just show her how weak you are?” The guy raised his fist and punched Hope in the face for no reason.

Hope finally decided to speak up. “I hope you know that it's against the rules to hit other students and curse. I'm sorry for bumping into you earlier but that gives you no reason to hit me or call Lightning a bitch. I'm going to have to write you up.” Hope finished looking at the guys as he held up his clipboard with papers to write down names.

“What did you say?! How dare you act all high and mighty with me! Come on boys let's show this little brat here that we aren't messing around.” The black-haired guy commanded as he went in for another punch.

Hope flinched as he was hit in the jaw again by the big guy. He was used to being bullied but he was never ganged up on before. If he was being honest, Hope was scared and wanted to run away.

Before, Hope could make a move to run he felt his feet get knocked out from underneath him and fell on his back.

“Ugh...” The silver-haired boy groaned in pain from the impact before he felt himself getting kicked in the side by the blond guy with glasses.

After a minute of beating on Hope, the three guys stopped on looked at the boy. Hope was curled up and coughing harshly. He had scratches all over his body and had a small trail of blood on the side of his mouth.

“In case, you still want our names, I'm Cyril Akihabara.” The leader said with a smirk on his face.

“I'm Damien Harajuku.” The red-haired guy said with a huge grin on his face.

“And I'm Rèmi Shinjuku.” The blond guy said as he pushed his glasses upon his face.

“I hope you can remember to write all those names for your leader, girly boy,” Cyril said one more time before he turned around laughing with his lackeys.

Hope groaned in pain again before he reached for his clipboard and wrote their names down for his report.

'_I need to give this to Lightning. She did say the sooner she got this the better... Plus I should go to the infirmary after giving her this._' Hope thought to himself as he got up still in a lot of pain and limping to the clubroom.

He knocked on the door while leaning against the frame before he fell over. When he heard a voice command him to come in he slowly opened the door. He opened it just a little to where the person in the room could only slightly see his hair when he heard a cheerful and manly voice. “Oh, it's just you Hope. I thought Sis told you to give her the report at...” Snow trailed off when he caught full sight of Hope.

Hearing Snow get quiet Lightning looked up from her work to see what made the normally talkative man shut his mouth. The first thing she noticed was the way Hope looked.

“Yeah she told me to give her it at lunch but she mentioned the sooner she gets this the better,” Hope said showing the clipboard before sliding down the door-frame to the floor coughing.

The poor boy was covered in bruises and seemed to be barely able to stand. Lightning could see that he was hurt she wanted to yell at him but lucky her Snow did it for her. “Hope! What the hell happened to you? Who did this?”

“You can read about this in the report I did for the watch. Lucky for me they gave me their names...” Hope mumble trying hard to breathe even if it hurt.

Lightning got up from her spot at the table and headed toward Hope. She took the clipboard from Hope and noted the names down in her memory before giving the clipboard to Snow.

“Snow, inform Dysley of what has happened and ask him how he wants to handle this. I'm taking Hope to the infirmary so I can fix him up.” Lightning said in a serious commanding tone.

“Of course! I'll tell you what he decides on. Please feel better Hope.” Snow said with a sympathetic look in his eyes before going off.

“Come on. We need to get you some help.” The pink-haired girl said as dragged Hope to his feet with one of his arms of her shoulder.

Hope couldn't help but notice that she smelled nice when she was this close to him which caused him to blush. The whole way to the nurse's office was silent as neither one knew what to say.

'_Why am I helping this kid? He's not important or anything well... besides the fact that he is a prodigy but since when have I cared about that. Well, he's not a bad person and he is hurt... I hope that Dysley will let me take care of those guys instead of the staff._' Lightning thought to herself as they arrived at the infirmary.

They noticed that the nurse wasn't there much to Lightning's annoyance since it was the nurse's job to be there on time so she can take of the students.

She sat Hope down on the first bed in the office as she went to get some bandages and stuff. “Take off your shirt.” Lightning commanded with a serious look on her face but that didn't stop Hope from being embarrassed.

“Wha-what?” Hope said blushing brightly at Lightning's words.

“I said to take off your shirt. I need to check to see if you have any bruises underneath your shirt since I'm assuming they didn't just hit your face.” Lightning responded with a hint of teasing that Hope caught which made him blush more.

“Oh yeah... They did a number on me. Heh...” Hope said embarrassed as he began to take his shirt off for her to look.

Lightning looked at the bruises and scrapes up closely and touched a few that seemed the worse which made Hope flinch and hiss in pain.

“Hmm... Well, you're pretty beaten up but I'll patch you up.” Lightning said before she quietly began to bandage him up.

The green-eyed boy couldn't help but blush since this was the first time a girl ever patched him. '_Especially one I have a crush on... Wait! I don't have a crush on Lightning! I mean sure she is pretty, beautiful even. Aww hell, she's downright gorgeous. She's kindhearted even if she comes off as cold. She didn't have to help me but she did... Damn... I do have a crush on her..._' Hope blushed even brighter at the realization he came to.

Lightning noticed the shade of his face and looked at him worried. “Hey, you're not getting a fever now are you?” She asked looking closely at the boy who turned a deeper shade of red and backed away from her.

“No, I'm fine. In fact, I think I can go back to class now.” Hope responded about to get up before being pushed down on the bed again this time being made to lay down.

“Oh no, you are going to rest right here. I'll tell Sazh that you are resting here after getting hurt. He'll understand. I'll leave a note for the nurse to tell them that you are laying in this bed. Just focus on getting better.” Lightning might have been trying to comfort him but she made it sound more like an order.

“Okay... Hey Lightning?” Hope asked as she was about to leave.

When she turned her head he decided to continue talking. “I'm not a burden to you, am I?” He asked hating how insecure he sounded.

“No, but if you don't get better you will be. How about this? When you are all healed up I'll teach you some self-defense techniques I learned through the years. That way if this happens again then you can defend yourself.” Lightning said with a hint of a smile on her face.

“Yeah... Thank you, Lightning.” Hope said in a sincere tone that caused Lightning to feel flushed a little by the tone.

“You're welcome, Hope. Also, please call me Light.” She said as the last thing before leaving the room hiding her pink cheeks.

“Thank you, Light,” Hope said right before falling asleep on the bed with a smile, feeling happy that he had gotten closer to Lightning or Light as she said to call her.


	4. Recovering and Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or any of the characters.

Hope suddenly heard someone moving around the room he was sleeping in. He slowly woke up to see if it was the nurse.

“Oh, did I wake you up?” A soft young voice said to the boy. Hope looked at the small girl who had long blue hair. She noticed she was around his age and was wearing the school uniform so she couldn't be the nurse.

“No, it's fine... where's the nurse?” Hope asked looking around the room before he looked back at the girl.

“She had to go do something. She told me not to bother you as you sleep. Reading this note left by Miss Lightning, I assume you're Hope Estheim?” The girl asked as she picked up a piece of paper that Lightning left for the nurse.

“Yes, I'm Hope. Who are you and what time is it?” The silver-haired boy asked very confusedly about this girl.

“I'm Paddra Nsu-Yeul and right now morning break time just started,” Yeul responded with a smile on her face.

“I guess I've been out of it for a while now... So, what are you doing here?” Hope asked with a confused look on his face.

“Oh, I'm a member of the Health Committee. Since I started this year I've been helping out here. I'm a first-year just like you.” The blue-haired girl said to Hope who was surprised she knew his next question.

“What about you? What happened that caused you to be in the nurse's office all morning?” Yeul asked with interest that surprised the boy.

Hope looked away from the girl who asked the question.“Well, these guys beat me up pretty bad. I was going to go back to class after Light fixed me up but she said I had to rest.”

Yeul laughed at Hope's explanation about everything. “Well, Miss Nabaat said that you should rest until lunch. But I can keep you company if you like.”

“Sure,” Hope responded with a huge smile on his face.

The two talked and laughed until the break was over with and Yeul had to go back to class but she promised to come back during lunch. Hope was just really happy to have made another friend.

* * *

It was lunchtime so Lightning and the rest of the group decided to go get Hope for lunch.

“I hope that he is feeling better. From what Lightning and Snow said it sounds like he took quite a beating.” Vanille said with a worried look on her face.

“I'm sure the kid is fine if he listened to Sunshine here and rested during the day,” Fang responded with a reassuring smile.

“I think if Hope would listen to anyone it would definitely be Sis,” Serah said trying to reassure Vanille as well.

When they got to the door they heard talking between two people. It sounded like Hope and a girl were talking about something interesting.

“Do we go in?” Snow asked clueless about what to do.

“Sounds like he might have a friend in there with him.” Maqui chimed in as he listened in through the door.

“Or a girlfriend,” Yuj said in a joking tone. All the girls and Yuj noticed Lightning grip onto what she was holding harder obviously irritated.

“Man if he has a girlfriend already then I'm going to need him to give me some pointers.” Gadot laughed out not noticing Light becoming more and more irritated.

“Hey! What about me? I'm your girlfriend, in case you forgot.” Lebreau began lecturing Gadot for what he said.

Serah noticed that Lightning was carrying two lunches instead of just her's and decided to question it. “Hey, Claire? Where did you get that other lunch and who is it for?”

Lightning blushed and looked away from her sister. She quickly moved past everyone and knocked on the door hoping someone would open the door soon.

After a few seconds, a girl answered the door with a soft smile. “Oh, I guess you are all here for Hope,” Yeul said with a look at the group.

Hope looked toward the door and saw his group of friends looking at him. “Hey, you guys!” He said cheerfully as he got up and went to the door.

“Hey, kid! Ya feelin' better than earlier?” Fang asked Hope looking at his injuries which looked just fine compared to what Snow said earlier.

“I'm just fine now. Oh, I'd like you all to meet Paddra Nsu-Yeul.” Hope introduced Yeul to everyone with a cute smile.

“Hi...” Yeul answered shyly looking down as she felt everyone's eyes on her.

“Is it okay with you guys if Yeul and her friend sit with us at lunch? She's cool and can even tell your fortune if you want.” Hope said very fast looking directly at Lightning thinking her opinion was the most important.

Everyone decided it was okay for her and her friend to join them making Hope very happy that he couldn't help but grin. '_He looks so happy even though he got beaten up earlier. He kinda looks cute when he grins like that... Hang on, Lightning. You did not just think he looked cute. Let's just push that thought out of your mind. It's not important, right now his health is what is important._' Lightning brushed the thought off like nothing.

“I'll meet you guys at the lunchroom then. I'm glad I get to introduce you to Noel by the way Hope. I feel like you two are going to be great friends.” Yeul said to Hope before beginning to leave.

Light paid no attention to the girl until the girl walked right by her and whispered something only the two of them could hear. “It's not good to hide your feelings, Miss Lightning...”

Lightning was stunned for a second before turning around to see the girl already down the hall.

Hope noticed a slightly distressed look on her face as did Serah while everyone else talked. Hope looked down to see what Light was holding her hands.

“Light, is that my lunch?” He asked as he noticed her holding two lunches and one that looked a lot like his.

Lightning snapped out of her state of shock to look at what the silver-haired boy was pointing at and noticed that it was, in fact, his lunch.

“Yes, it is. I figured that you might want it but might not be up to get it yourself.” The rose-haired girl said as she handed Hope his lunch.

“Thanks, Light. It means a lot to me.” The boy said sweetly as he smiled and looked into Lightning's crystal blue eyes with his emerald ones.

Lightning couldn't help but blush at sincerity. To her, he seemed so... handsome at that moment and it made her heart race. She quickly turned around with her face calm and eyes closed before she replied. “Don't read too much into it. It's not a big deal.” After she said those words she began walking to the cafeteria with the rest following her.

Hope stood there a little hurt by what she said and looked down at his lunch now in his hands. Serah noticed that he wasn't following them and decided to cheer him up.

“Don't worry about Sis. She's just not used to people but I can tell she has taken a liking to you.” The younger of the Farron sisters said with a caring smile.

“I'm not sure if she likes me...” Hope responded looking down at his feet sadly. He just realized his feeling for Lightning that day but he felt he was already rejected.

Serah giggled a little bit from what Hope said. “Light would never treat someone's wounds if she didn't like them or bring them their lunch. She won't even do that for her friends which makes you already higher than everyone else in the group. Well, everyone except me but I don't think I count since I'm her sister and all.” She finished with a slight chuckle that made Hope chuckle as well.

“Thanks, Serah. It's good to know that I'm actually cared about.” Hope said smiling again feeling a lot better after Serah's reassuring and began following the others while still talking to the girl.

“Yeah, Claire is a very caring person but she is to simply put it, socially awkward. She is beautiful which I'm sure you noticed.” Hope blushed at Serah's statement as she looked over at him before she continued.

“She has plenty of fans who would give anything to date her but because of her cold and harsh personality she scares them all away or just flat out rejects them. Those guys that beat you up today all asked her out at some point and she rejected them. They felt insulted and I guess when they saw you two getting along they decided to get back at her by hurting you.” Serah looked at Hope with an apologetic look that made him feel like she was worried about how he would react.

“Those guys were just jerks and don't deserve someone as amazing as Light anyway,” Hope said in a determined tone that made Serah know just how the boy felt.

“Yeah, but I do feel bad for them... Mr. Dysley is letting Lightning handle their punishment instead of the staff. Usually, he lets the staff handle it but sometimes he'll let the Disciplinary Committee handle the situation simply because he finds it more amusing. In this case, it is obvious that, as Snow put it, Lightning is pissed. So the guys who did this to you will be wanting the staff to handle it instead because Lightning's going to hurt them the same way they hurt you or worse.” Serah finished as they finally reached the lunchroom and the rest of their friends.

“You two sure did take your time getting here,” Fang said as the two sat down in their spots.

“I was just getting to know Hope here. He is just the sweetest person you could ever know.” Serah said with a giggle as she and the rest of the group noticed Hope blush.

“I can totally see that. He does seem to have that way about him.” Fang nodded in agreement to what Serah said.

“Aww, and he's so cute when he's blushing! If I was that way I would totally go for a guy like Hope.” Vanille chimed in causing Hope to blush more and Fang to become a little jealous.

“Well lucky for me you don't swing that way,” Fang said wrapping her arm around Vanille and pulling her close.

“No PDA Fang. You may be my friend but that doesn't mean you can break the rules.” Lightning said as she began to eat barely glancing at the two girls.

“You're no fair, Sunshine. Just because you're single doesn’t mean you have to ruin the fun for the rest of us.” Fang shot back sticking her tongue out at the older of the Farron sisters. Everyone laughed as Lightning just rolled her eyes.

Before anyone could say anything they heard someone clear their throat. They looked to see who it was and saw Yeul with a brown-haired blue-eyed guy who no one seem to know.

“I hope we're not interrupting anything. But if I remember correctly Hope offered to let us eat lunch with you all.” Yeul said with a soft smile to everyone at the table.

“Of course you can sit right beside Hope if you both want.” Serah offered with a smile as Hope welcomed the two to sit next to him. Lightning could help but feel a tinge of irritation when the blue-haired girl sat on the other side of Hope.

“Thank you all for letting us join. This is my childhood friend Noel Kreiss. We grew up together.” Yeul said before everyone began introducing themselves to the newcomers.

“You two are welcome to sit with us at any point in time.” Snow said with a grin on his face.

“So that makes three first-years, one second-year, four third-years, and four fourth-years in our little group,” Lebreau said as she sat back thinking about it.

“Yeah, that's all of us. Sorry Maqui you're all alone.” Hope said with a little laugh.

“It's all cool. It just makes me more unique. So Noel, have you decided what club you want to join?” Maqui asked with a curious look on his face.

“I'm not sure but I think I might join the Disciplinary Committee. I was worried about being the only newcomer there but seeing as Hope is there I think I will join.” Noel said with a nod to himself.

“Well then welcome to the club.” Snow said with a grin on his face.

Lightning noticed that Hope was holding his arm a little which caused her to worry. “Hope. Are you okay?” She asked before she could stop herself from shocking everyone.

“I'm fine just feeling a little sore from earlier is all,” Hope said with an unconvincing smile on his face.

“Well if that's the case you don't have to go to today's meeting. Just go straight home and rest.” Light's statement was final and he had no reason to argue.

“Okay, then I'll be sure to rest up,” Hope said with a huge smile toward his crush.

Lightning saw the look on Hope's face and started to feel her face turn red. She quickly turned her head only to notice Serah smirking at her.

Hope decided to change the subject with what he had been meaning to ask everyone. “Hey, you guys. I was talking to my parents about you all last night and they were wondering if you guys can all come over this weekend on Saturday for dinner...” He asked embarrassed and looking down at his lunch as he felt everyone's eyes on him.

Everyone was quiet and didn't say a word making Hope feel very uncomfortable. Just when he was about to say something someone spoke up. “We'll go. Serah and I will at least. Right Serah?” Light said with a small tilt of her head while still covering her reddening cheeks.

'_Why am I embarrassing myself so much today? It's all this new kid's fault._' Light felt so uncomfortable she tried to never show much emotion because when she was a kid everyone made fun of her for crying so much. '_I can deal with this problem some other time. Maybe this will go away once I'm used to Hope being around. He's a good kid and I'm sure we can be good friends._'

“Yeah. Since Saturday is Lightning's turn to cook and I don't feel like eating steak this week which is like the only thing she knows how to cook.” Serah said with a laugh as Lightning glared at her.

“If Serah is going then I'll be going too!” Snow shouted happy hugging his girlfriend close.

“Where Snow goes NORA goes too! Plus with a thing like free food I don't think we can really refuse.” Maqui said as the rest of the members of team NORA agreed.

“Snow, like I said to Fang, no PDA.” Light said with a sharp glare to the boy who quickly dropped his arms from Serah and starting to whine.

“Are you going to come too, Noel and Yeul?” Hope asked as he ignored Snow whining about Light being unfair.

“If it's okay with you we would love to come,” Yeul said as she smiled at Noel who smiled back.

“Of course you can come too. You two are our friends now.” Hope responded smiling to the two. Hope noticed how Yeul and Noel acted almost like a couple but they didn't seem to be dating.

“Then we will be there too,” Noel responded with a nod feeling like he and Yeul were finally making more friends and one of which seemed to be in his grade.

After Hope told everyone the time to be there the bell rang and they all had to go to class with Serah reminding Hope to rest and not strain himself.

“So, what class are you in Hope?” Noel asked after Yeul went to her class leaving the two boys by themselves.

“I'm in class 1-A. What about you?” Hope responded and asked the brown-haired boy.

“I'm in 1-A as well so I guess we are in the same class!” Noel said with a grin and a laugh.

Hope laughed along with the boy as they walked to class. They did seem to get along very well and became quick friends. Once they reached their classroom they sat down in their seats and got prepared for class.

Hope felt better than earlier after he rested but he was very glad that Lightning let him just go straight home when school was over with. '_I'll tell Mom that my friends are coming over when I get home today and then I'll go straight to bed. There are only two more days left before the weekend and then my parents can meet my friends. It's so hard to believe almost four weeks have passed since this school year has started and I already have many friends._'


	5. Meeting Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or any of the characters.

It was Saturday and the group was supposed to all go to Hope's place for dinner. Because of this Hope was super nervous all day and Nora was excited about meeting her son's friends.

The plan was they would all come over at 5 pm and dinner would be ready at 6 pm. Since no one knew where Hope lived they all decided to meet up together and Hope would show them to his house.

“I'm so happy that I get to meet your friends! It's been so long since you had friends over. I believe it was when you were in 5th grade.” Nora asked her son who was fully recovered from the incident.

“Yeah, I know it's been a while since you have met any of my friends but please don't embarrass me.” Hope pleaded to Nora who just smiled before responding.

“I can't make any promises.” She said as she left the room smiling.

At the moment Hope was getting ready to pick everyone up since he wanted to show them the house before dinner. He was going to meet them at the park in town and since it was near the time he decided to head out to meet them.

Once he was done he ran to the front door almost knocking his mom over. “I'm going to head out now. Remember, no embarrassing me!” Hope yelled as he opened the door.

“And like I said no promises. I'm your mom, you should expect me to embarrass you.” Nora called out before she heard the door close.

'_He's so excited. I can't wait to meet his friends especially that Lightning girl he keeps going on about._' Nora thought to herself before going back to her housework.

As Hope walked to the park he thought about who would be there. Hope's dad had the day off but was out getting ingredients for dinner and was going to be home before Hope got back. Hope's mom was doing some housework before the group got there. All of Hope's friends would be there, including Lightning which made Hope extremely nervous.

“I just hope everything goes well tonight...” Hope said to himself with a sigh as he walked to the park before sitting down on the bench at the spot they all agreed to meet at.

They decided to meet at about 4:30 so they could get to Hope's house on time. Hope couldn't help but wonder how things were going to go for dinner. He also was curious to see how everyone's casual clothes looked like since he only ever saw them in their school uniforms. The 14-year-old himself looked down at his outfit for the day.

What he wore was a simple green t-shirt with a gray undershirt and black jeans. He didn't look any different than usual.

Hope sat there thinking about everything when he heard a loud voice call out to him. “Hey, Hope!” Turning his head to see who it was the silver-haired boy saw Snow come running up to him with a grin.

“Hello, Snow,” Hope said with a smile to the big guy. Snow was wearing a blue shirt and a pair of black jeans. He also wore a black bandanna over his blond hair.

“How are you doing buddy? Did you get enough rest since the incident?” Snow asked Hope like a concerned big brother.

“Yeah, I'm all better now! I should be able to get back to club activities on Monday.” The younger of the two said with a huge smile.

“Well I'm glad to see you better and I'm sure Lightning will be happy too.” The blond-haired man said with a huge smile of his own before patting Hope's back.

“See I told you he would be here Fang!” A voice Hope knew all too well said before he turned around to see Vanille and Fang coming up to him.

Vanille was wearing a short pink skirt and a white blouse with black lace trim. Her hair was in the same old curled pigtails and she was wearing silver hoop earrings. She had on light pink heels.

“I heard you, Vanille. Good afternoon, Hope and Snow.” Fang said with a slight laugh in her voice as she came to a stop. Fang was wearing black skinny jeans, a dark purple t-shirt, and black boots.

“Good afternoon to you too, Fang. And hello Vanille.” Hope responded with a smile to the two young ladies.

Before Hope knew it Gadot, Lebreau, Yuj, and Maqui all showed up together followed by Noel and Yeul. Lebreau was wearing shorts, a purple shirt with gold butterflies on it, and black wedges. Gadot wore a black t-shirt with white shorts and sneakers. Yuj had on an orange shirt and black leather pants and black boots. Maqui was wearing a black jacket and khakis along with sneakers. Noel had on a plain black t-shirt and blue jeans. While Yeul was wearing a simple white sundress with beige boots.

“Hey, you guys! So, everyone's here except Lightning and Serah?” Lebreau noted as she looked around.

“Serah just texted me and said they would be here in a minute.” Snow said after checking his phone.

“That's fine but I wonder what was taking them so long. Usually, those two are the first ones to get here not the last.” Lebreau said with a confused look on her face.

“I wouldn't worry about it too much,” Fang said with a shrug as she hugged Vanille.

“Oh! Here they come.” Vanille said as she pointed to two girls walking up to them.

Hope looked to see the Farron sisters walking and talking about something that seemed to be irritating Light. Serah noticed the group and quickly grabbed Lightning's hand running to the group.

“Sorry, we're late. Claire was taking forever to get up today.” Serah said as she winked to her sister who just glared in return.

Hope noticed that Serah was wearing a black skirt and hot pink blouse with simple black high heels. He then turned his attention Light. When he looked at her, Hope's breath caught. Lightning was wearing white jeans and a purple plain t-shirt with a black cardigan. She had on black boots and a lightning bolt necklace.

“It's no problem. We can head over to my house now.” Hope said with a smile on his face to the group before he began leading them to his house.

“So how far is it from here?” Light asked looking around the area as they walked.

“It's just a five to ten-minute walk from here,” Hope replied as he looked at the rose-haired girl.

“That doesn't sound too bad,” Serah responded as she held hands with Snow.

As they entered the residential area everyone noticed how big the houses around looked. “Umm... Hope? How rich is your family?” Noel asked as him and everyone else looked around in amazement.

“Well, my dad has a job at a top-notch research facility. So I guess you can say we're pretty well off...” Hope said before drifting off and staring straight ahead.

“It must be nice living here. I want a big house one day with a huge family!” Snow said with a huge grin on his face as he looked at Serah who just giggled and slapped his arm.

“It's okay I guess but I don't hang out with most of these people.” The silver-haired boy said with a shrug.

Everyone didn't know what to say as they looked at the many different houses. After about three minutes of walking down the street, Hope stopped causing everyone else to stop and look at where they were.

“Well, here we are,” Hope said before he started to walk toward the house. Noticing no one was following him, the silver-haired boy turned to see everyone looking between the house and Hope.

“What? Is something wrong?” Hope asked very confusedly at his friends’ reactions.

“You live here?” Fang asked in disbelief as she looked at the boy with narrowed eyes.

“Yes, I do and I would love to give you a tour of the house if you all like.” Hope with a sweet smile that made everyone wonder just what kind of life he lived.

Light decided to walk toward the house unable to get over how big the house seemed. It was about three-stories tall and looked pretty spacious on the outside with a big front yard. “I would like to see the inside of the house.” She said with a small smile of her own.

“Okay then. Mom and Dad should both be home now.” Hope said as he turned around and went to the door now with everyone following him. He opened the door and everyone looked amazed at that moment.

“Mom! I'm back with my friends.” Hope shouted and went to where Lightning assumed was the kitchen.

“Who knew the kid came from such a rich home?” Gadot said looking at everything still amazed.

“Well, I guess it explains why he wasn't very good at fighting...” Snow said nodding his head more to himself.

“Just because his family is well off doesn't mean he can't fight.” Light said more defensively than she should have. Her face was a little pink but it seemed the only one who noticed was Serah who just smirked a little to herself.

Before anyone could say anything else Hope returned with a woman and a man. Everyone could see that the two must be his parents.

“Sorry for the wait. Everyone these are my mom and my dad.” Hope said motioning to the two adults behind him who smiled.

“It's very nice to meet you all. I'm Nora and this is my wonderful husband Bartholomew. Hope's told me so much about you all.” Nora said as she shook everyone's hand and smiled brightly. Lightning could tell that Hope took after his mother.

“He said that Gadot's hair was like fire and he wasn't kidding about it. It looks cool.” Nora said as she looked at Gadot's hair in amazement.

“Thank you so much.” Gadot said with a grateful smile on his face.

“Did he talk about anyone else?” Vanille asked in a very curious tone.

“He mentions that you were very cheerful, Vanille. He said that Fang was cool and like an older sister. I heard Yuj was very fashionable. Hope said Maqui always wears goggles even if they break the dress code. He mentioned that Lebreau is a great cook. He said Yeul while looking small and fragile was very mature and that Noel was a great classmate who seemed to be very straightforward.” Nora said all this while looking at every person she was talking about.

Looking at Serah, Nora continued to talk. “He said that you were a sweet person if not a little scary but that you gave amazing advice if he needs it.” Serah thanked Nora before smiling at Hope, who was embarrassed by everything she was saying.

“You must be Snow. Hope mentioned that you were tall and big but I thought he was exaggerating since he's so small.” Nora said with a laugh as everyone did too except Hope who just pouted his face red.

“I'm not that small Mom,” Hope said as he looked at Lightning with pleading eyes which caused the corner of Light's lips to quirk up.

But before Lightning could say anything, Nora looked at her with a soft look. “Hope's talked about you the most. He said you were really beautiful and he wasn't lying.”

“Did he say... anything else?” Lightning asked a little cautiously not knowing why she even asked in the first place.

“He mentioned that you are caring especially when it comes to your friends and sister. He said you are really helpful even if you can be strict.” Nora finished with a motherly smile on her face.

“Now Hope, why don't you show our guest around the house?” Nora asked as she went to the kitchen with Bartholomew following behind knowing that Hope wouldn't want him there to spoil the fun.

“Okay then, who wants to start at the top floor and make our way down?” Hope said trying to ignore the fact that his face was surely red.

“Sounds like fun!” Lebreau said noticing the fact that Hope didn't seem to want to be questioned about anything right now.

“Yeah! I want to look at the ground from the top floor!” Maqui said jumping up and down and grinning.

As everyone began following him, Hope noticed that Light was still standing there staring off into space. “Light? Are you coming?” He asked concern evident in his voice.

“Uh... Yeah. Sorry I was just thinking.” Lightning said before following behind the group deep in thought about what Nora had said.

'_She said Hope told her all those things. But why would he say things like that about me? Well, it doesn't matter right now... He's a sweet kid anyway. I guess I'll just leave it be.'_ Lightning thought before smiling to herself slightly and catching up to enjoy the tour of the house that Hope was giving.


End file.
